These Robots at CES 2026 Will Blow Your Mind

U.S. takeover of Venezuela’s oil

Coolest robots at CES 2026

Harvard president’s free speech mea culpa

Venezuela holds more than 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, more than Saudi Arabia and roughly one-fifth of the global total.

Most of that oil is heavy or extra-heavy crude, making it expensive and technically difficult to produce without modern equipment and steady investment.

Years of underfunding, sanctions, and political turmoil have left Venezuela’s oil infrastructure badly degraded, keeping much of its energy wealth locked underground.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. would push major American oil companies to invest billions to repair refineries and restart production, arguing it could restore Venezuela’s output and generate profits.

Chevron, the only major U.S. producer still operating in Venezuela, said it is complying with existing laws and regulations.

ConocoPhillips said it is monitoring the situation, while ExxonMobil declined to comment.

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Global hyperscalers are set to invest over $600 billion in 2026 capital expenditures, igniting a "silicon supercycle" that decouples tech earnings from the broader economy and propels the S&P 500 toward 8,000. (MM)

Oil prices edged lower in Asian trading, with Brent crude down 34 cents to $60.41 a barrel and WTI falling 41 cents to $56.91. (INV)

Investors are closely watching oil market structure, low volatility, stable Treasury yields, modest gold gains, and a stronger dollar following the U.S. intervention in Venezuela. (CNBC)

China's private services PMI eased to 52.0 in December, marking the slowest expansion in six months amid softening new business and a contraction in export orders. (INV)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Chevron shares jumped 7.6% in London trading, while ConocoPhillips advanced 7% and SLB climbed 9.3% amid optimism over potential access to Venezuela's vast reserves. (CNBC)

USA Rare Earth emerges as a key domestic challenger to China's rare earth dominance, with revenues projected to rise from $41 million in 2026 to nearly $400 million by 2030, according to Seeking Alpha. (SA)

Motley Fool analysts named Pure Storage as a top AI stock to buy in 2026, citing their leadership in infrastructure, applications, and high-efficiency data storage. (MF)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump declared that the U.S. is taking control of Venezuela’s oil reserves in the wake of Maduro's capture. (X)

Germany's far-left Vulkangruppe militants claimed responsibility for an arson attack on Berlin's power grid, citing protests against fossil fuels. (TG)

Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on India over its persistent imports of discounted Russian crude. (OP)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Japan endorsed integrating crypto into stock exchanges, declaring 2026 the "digital year" to foster innovative trading of blockchain assets. (TB)

PwC plans to aggressively expand its crypto auditing and consulting services, citing the passage of the GENIUS Act for stablecoins. (FT)

A Polymarket bettor turned a roughly $35,000 wager into over $400,000 in profits overnight by correctly predicting Maduro's capture in a U.S.-led operation. (VER)

Bitcoin surged above $93,000 Sunday night, with Ethereum and other major crypto posting gains as part of a broader "everything rally." (TB)

Doosan Robotics is showing its Scan & Go system, an AI-powered robot that can sand, grind, and inspect large structures without complex programming, making dangerous factory work safer and faster.

Hyundai Motor Company, via Boston Dynamics, is unveiling its humanoid robot Atlas, designed to handle advanced factory tasks and adjust on the fly using real-time data.

Companion robots are drawing attention, including Tuya Smart’s Fuzozo, which reacts to voice and touch, and OLLOBOT, a pet-like robot that offers reminders and anticipates daily needs.

Go-Le Robotics is debuting the AA-2, an autonomous delivery robot built for apartment buildings that can ride elevators and deliver to multiple homes in one trip.

Hexagon Robotics’ AEON humanoid robot is aimed at repetitive and risky industrial jobs, working safely alongside human workers.

ULS Robotics is introducing the VIATRIX exoskeleton, designed to reduce physical strain during walking, sports, and outdoor activities.

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella urged the tech industry to move beyond debates over "AI slop versus sophistication," framing the technology as a "cognitive amplifier" that enhances human capabilities rather than replacing them. (SN)

Outgoing Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun lambasted new Superintelligence Labs head Alexandr Wang as "inexperienced," warning of further talent departures amid a misguided LLM-focused strategy that he deems a "dead end" for achieving superintelligence. (BI)

OpenAI is eyeing Pinterest as its largest acquisition yet in 2026, aiming to leverage the platform's vast image database and advertising infrastructure to bolster AI-driven online shopping. (TOM)

Samsung unveiled voice-activated smart refrigerators at CES 2026, enabling commands like “Shut the fridge door” and Google's Gemini AI integration for enhanced food recognition and meal planning. (VER)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Boston Dynamics' AI-powered Atlas humanoid robot demonstrated autonomous sorting of roof racks during early real-world trials at a Hyundai manufacturing plant in Georgia. (CBS)

Researchers unveiled a robotic arm capable of mastering 1,000 real-world physical tasks—from gripping to folding—in under 24 hours, each from a single human demonstration. (FN)

Unitree Robotics' advanced H2 humanoid robot showcased impressive agility in a new video, executing flying kicks, backflips, and forceful strikes against sandbags. (IE)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: The ultra-secretive U.S. Air Force RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone provided critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support during the operation to capture Maduro. (TWZ)

SpaceX's Starlink is providing free satellite internet service to users in Venezuela through February 3. (CNBC)

China's People's Liberation Army demonstrated a motion-controlled combat robot that replicates a soldier's real-time movements uing a lightweight sensor suit. (BGR)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Crunchbase forecasts a 10-25% surge in global venture funding to over $400 billion in 2026, led by larger rounds and AI megadeals, as VCs anticipate concentrated liquidity via M&A and secondaries. (CB)

West Co, the startup founded by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, raised $29 million in funding following the November invite-only launch of its social app Tangle. (FT)

Cisco Systems is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli cybersecurity startup Axonius for approximately $2 billion. (CTCH)

Palo Alto Networks is in advanced talks to acquire one-year-old Israeli cybersecurity startup Koi for approximately $400 million. (CTCH)

Garber acknowledged that political views, including anti-Israel sentiment after Oct. 7, were at times pushed in classrooms by a largely left-leaning faculty.

Garber linked that dynamic to a rise in antisemitism, particularly “social shunning,” which he said is difficult to police but corrosive to campus life.

Since taking office, Garber has advanced an institutional-voice policy limiting official Harvard positions on political issues and tightened protest and campus-use rules.

Garber claimed there is now “real movement” toward restoring objectivity and balance in teaching, even as the changes have drawn internal resistance.

⭐ Editor’s Pick: France is advancing legislation to ban social media access for children under 15 starting September 2026, requiring platforms to implement robust age verification via government-backed digital IDs. (RTN)

Canadian corporations are retreating from ESG and DEI commitments amid a crackdown by Trump and investor skepticism over measurable returns. (LOG)

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) escalated pressure on Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, demanding testimony on her agency's global content takedown orders. (DOC)

Substack CEO Chris Best slammed the UK's Online Safety Act as a "system of mass political censorship unlike anywhere else in the Western world." (FSU)